High Court: Family Division judgments, 2007

Orders for DNA testing in family proceedings must be made under the Family Law Reform Act 1969. The court must use a laboratory on the Ministry of Justice…

For jurisdiction under Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003, a domicile of origin continues unless abandonment and acquisition of a domicile of…

When deciding whether children should be placed for adoption, the court must assess each child’s welfare throughout life and apply the statutory checklist.…

At an interim hearing concerning an adult who lacked capacity, the court declined to authorise a trial placement with her mother where professional evidence…

For recognition of an overseas divorce, the court must determine whether it was effective under the law of the country concerned and whether the statutory…

In ancillary relief proceedings, the sharing principle must be applied within the statutory discretion and does not create a formula or require precise…

In public-law child-protection proceedings, an unproved allegation cannot itself establish a risk founded on past inflicted harm. Where binding authority…

Under the Hague Convention, retention is a specific event, normally occurring when a child is not returned at the end of an agreed limited stay. Withdrawal of…

A parental order following surrogacy is available only where every statutory condition is satisfied. The domicile requirement in Human Fertilization and…

Under section 31(2) of the Children Act 1989, a disabled child’s needs cannot alone establish that parental care is unreasonable. The court must assess the…

After care and placement proceedings have concluded, the court may intervene to protect children’s welfare where parental conduct threatens to frustrate an…

Where a local authority controls a vulnerable adult’s residence and personal relationships, it must ensure that the arrangements do not disproportionately…

When deciding between a Care Order and a Supervision Order, the court must assess the children’s welfare and safety while also considering the impact and…

Without notice relief affecting a vulnerable adult requires exceptional care. The applicant must provide a balanced, fair and particularised account…

In determining children proceedings, the welfare of the children required protection from a substantial risk of abduction, continuing parental hostility and…

A consent financial order may be reopened under the Barder principle only where a supervening event invalidates the order’s fundamental basis. The event must…

When deciding where an incapacitated adult should live, the court must determine the person’s best interests by weighing all relevant circumstances. Family…

In care proceedings, fact-finding on disputed allegations applies the civil standard. The court must decide matters from evidence, facts proved to the…

The jurisdiction to reopen a judgment after it has been handed down exists but is exceptional. It requires strong reasons and will be exercised only very…

In determining a child’s residence, the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration. A court should be slow to alter a long-established care arrangement…

In a fact-finding hearing involving conflicting allegations of domestic abuse and child-care failures, the party making an allegation bears the burden of…

For the purposes of Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2203 (Brussels II (revised)), “habitually resident” has an autonomous Community-law meaning.…

Under Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003, an English court seised before jurisdiction passes under article 10 retains power to determine…

An adult’s capacity is decision-specific. Capacity concerning residence, contact and financial affairs is determined by whether the person can understand and…

In a family formed through assisted conception, the biological progenitor’s status and contact must be determined by the child’s welfare, not by an assumed…

Applications to restrict reporting of court proceedings engage the child’s Article 8 rights and the media’s Article 10 rights. Neither right has automatic…

Consent to interview a child is an aspect of parental responsibility, but the decision is not necessarily a question concerning the child’s upbringing. Where…

In Hague Convention proceedings, the parent opposing return bears the burden of establishing any Article 12 or Article 13 defence on the balance of…

For annulment of a bankruptcy order under section 282(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986, the applicant must prove on the balance of probabilities that the order…

Where an unmarried father’s identity is unknown, the court may request information from the mother and explain why disclosure matters to the child. The court…

Withdrawal of care proceedings is governed primarily by the child’s welfare. Continued proceedings confer no automatic benefit; there must be a solid advantage…

In a dispute between parents and doctors about treatment for a child lacking capacity, the court must exercise its own independent and objective judgment. The…

In ancillary relief proceedings, costs must be determined by considering all the circumstances, including conduct, partial success, settlement offers…

In ancillary relief proceedings after a long marriage, the court must apply the statutory discretion flexibly and pursue fairness. The guidance on sharing…

In care proceedings, the court cannot continue Part IV proceedings to supervise or police a local authority’s care planning where the statutory threshold for a…

A local authority should not remain anonymous merely to protect itself or its employees from criticism. The court must ask whether anonymity is necessary to…

Section 124 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 does not confer an unfettered right to inspect every will deposited with the High Court. The right remains subject to…

Applications concerning disclosure from private care proceedings and restrictions on reporting related criminal proceedings require a fact-specific…

When deciding whether to permit withdrawal of care proceedings, the child’s future welfare must dominate the decision. Permission should be granted where…

Ancillary relief remains a discretionary statutory exercise under section 25. There is no presumption of equality, although equality remains an important…

A consent order compromising ancillary relief proceedings must be construed according to the parties’ intention as expressed in the order and the admissible…

On an appeal in ancillary relief proceedings, a court must apply the appellate threshold and may intervene where the first-instance judge has ignored a…

Consent to a child’s removal under Article 13 of the Hague Convention need not be written, but it must be clear and unequivocal. The court must determine…

In Hague Convention return proceedings, a child’s objections involve three questions: whether the objections are established, whether the child has sufficient…

Disclosure of findings made in care proceedings is exceptional, but may be ordered where there is a clear and pressing need to protect children or vulnerable…

In a long marriage, equality remains the usual starting point where both parties have made full contributions, including through earning, homemaking and…

On an appeal from a care order, the appellate court may intervene only where the lower court was plainly wrong in resolving disputed facts or exercising its…

Where sensitive confidential information must be protected in family proceedings, the court has overall control of the litigation process and must take active…

For a child in care, habitual residence does not necessarily change when the child is placed overseas with a relative. The court must consider who has…

The High Court has an inherent jurisdiction to protect children who are physically present within England and Wales from harm. That jurisdiction may be…

In ancillary relief proceedings, the guidance in White v White and Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane is not a series of statutory tests producing fixed…

Under Brussels I, where proceedings in different member states concern the same cause of action and the same parties, the court second seized must stay its…

After care proceedings have ended, section 97(2) of the Children Act 1989 no longer restricts publication. Section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960…

Where a marriage celebrated abroad is invalid under the law of the place of celebration, that foreign law determines validity. It does not determine the remedy…

In ancillary relief proceedings, a court may assess a party’s earning potential and fund-raising capacity when deciding how identified assets should be…

On an application to vary periodical payments, reasonable needs remain relevant but are not necessarily a limiting factor where the payer has substantial…

In care proceedings involving disputed medical causation, the court must decide the facts and must critically evaluate expert opinion rather than treat an…

The inherent jurisdiction over an incapacitated or vulnerable adult is protective and broadly analogous to parens patriae. It permits declarations…

A prior matrimonial consent order does not create a formal or informal issue estoppel preventing later financial provision for a child whose housing needs…

In long-running Children Act proceedings, earlier welfare findings remain the starting point unless successfully overturned or materially displaced by later…

A court hearing care proceedings must scrutinise the local authority’s care plan, but it need not approve every element before making a care order. Where…

Findings made in concluded care and adoption proceedings cannot be reopened for the purposes of those proceedings. They may, however, be relied upon in later…

Habitual residence is determined from all the circumstances. A child must be present voluntarily, for a settled purpose and settled intention, for an…

A spouse seeking financial relief cannot treat assets held by trustees as matrimonial assets merely because the arrangements appear artificial. A sham trust…

In determining residence and contact, the court must prioritise the children’s welfare and assess the practical risks created by parental conflict. A parent’s…

A court may make a further property adjustment order to enforce an earlier financial order where the earlier order did not finally dispose of the relevant…